


Heroes of Mobius

by Solodemon99



Series: Heroes of Mobius [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Multi, Rewrite, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26342593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Solodemon99/pseuds/Solodemon99
Summary: Mobius has always been a peaceful planet, so full of hope and friendly faces, each Mobian unique in their own wonderful way, like our hero, Sonic the Hedgehog.But the planet has been attacked by a mad scientist, our speedy hero knows he can't do it alone, so it's up to him and his siblings to find the Freedom Fighters and bring peace back to Mobius!
Relationships: Amy Rose/Sonic the Hedgehog
Series: Heroes of Mobius [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914193
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> So this is basically my re-write of the entire Sonic universe, starting with a mix between Underground, Archie and the Classic games, they'll be a few changes along the way, and I hope you'll all enjoy it!
> 
> Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

A star had shined brightly on Green Hill Kingdom that night, not for any particular reason, perhaps it was coincidence for the joyous occasion for the kingdom, maybe the gods were looking down in happiness that day.

This day was special for the kingdom, as it was the day that Queen Aleena the Hedgehog had revealed the birth of her triplets to the kingdom, so of course it was to be celebrated. 

The Queen held one of her children in her arms as she looked down at her joyous kingdom, the fireworks being launched in the air, the songs, the children laughing.  
It was perfect in every way, it was why Aleena had loved her kingdom so much.

The baby in her arms had began to squirm, he was a blue Hedgehog, his quills already quite long for being just a few weeks old, she could already tell the child was a born fighter.

"There, there" she cooed to him, he began to rest once again but it was only a matter of seconds before he began to squirm again.  
The Queen sighed blissfully, walking to the cot with her other children inside, a green male Hedgehog and a magenta coloured female, both sound asleep compared to the little blue one.

She rested them together and gently lifted the blanket over their small bodies, looking at them blissfully until her brother entered the room.

He had a stern face and a green colour to match one of the triplets, but his face softened as he looked at the children, he turned to Aleena.

"Have you thought of any names for them?"

Aleena thought to herself. Names. Of course, for a queen she still often forgot the small things.  
She looked at the green and magenta hedgehogs.

"I like the name Sonia for the girl and Manic for the little green one, not very princely I know but it matches his unruly hair, what do you think Helios?"

Her brother nodded, "I'd say you've picked well, and I suppose the blue one will be named after his father? He's the spitting image after all."

Aleena looked at him lovingly, "Of course, he is to be the future king of Green Hill, he shall be named Sonic like his father before him."

Aleena picked up Sonic again.  
"My son, like your father, you have been gifted with an incredible power like no other, use it wisely."

Helios looked at the other two. "These two are without powers, I can sense it." he pulled out two necklaces "We'll give them the royal instruments to defend themselves."

He fastened the necklaces around the siblings' necks, one shaped like a keyboard on Sonia and one like a drum kit on Manic.  
Sonic was placed next to his siblings again as Aleena gently rocked the cot for them to sleep.

It approached the end of the festivities and it was time for her people to return to their houses, Aleena dimmed her lights in her room as her children went to sleep.  
She looked dreamily outside her castle, her children were perfect, she knew they would be and they would lead her kingdom to a fantastic future.

She continued to look out of her window until she saw a bright light in the distance, perhaps another star to shine down on her children? But no, it wasn't that, it was a missile.

Aleena scooped up her children in her arms, waking them instantly, leading to their cries waking the rest of the castle, she continued running through the halls until she reached the room of her advisor, as soon as the door opened, the castle was met with a tremendous shake as the first missile had hit. Aleena clutched her children tight to her chest as she continued to walk through the door.

An owl turned around to Aleena, worry clear on her eyes as she realised what must be done.  
Aleena looked at her tearfully as she handed her children over.  
"You know where to take them, don't you Longclaw?"

Longclaw nodded and scooped the children in her talons, they nested safely in their blankets.  
Longclaw looked at Aleena with worry.  
"Will you be okay my queen? We knew this day would come eventually."

Aleena shedded a single tear, but wiped it away as soon as it fell.  
"I must be strong for my kingdom. Sonic must be trained with Helios to control his powers, the siblings must be separated to keep them all safe."  
She looked at her children, sadness clearly being masked by her strong facade.  
"Please keep them safe, Longclaw. That's all I ask."

Longclaw nodded and lept on the window ledge, she turned to see the oncoming ships and bombs falling down, impossible to some but for an expert flyer such as Longclaw, it would be easy.

Aleena watched as her longtime friend flew from the window. This was it, the end of her kingdom when its future was expanding, but she knew this threat would arise someday, it was only a matter of time.  
She put on a brave face and made her way to the balcony to meet with the threat.

Helios greeted her as soon as she reached outside. The first thing she saw was the imposing ship floating before her, armed to the teeth with weapons and robots of all sorts, she knew it would be hopeless but if she could buy her citizens time, she would do it.

The cockpit of the ship opened and out came the leader, a tall man with quite a gut growing, he was bald and under his nose grew a rather long and wiry moustache, Mobius had heard legends of humans on their planet but to think that the only one they would meet would cause such a threat.

But this was no time to think of legends, Aleena knew that, she stared angrily at this man as his transporter carried him to the edge of her balcony.

He grinned at her, his crooked teeth were only slightly obscured by the rising smoke and embers from the Chaos below.

"Queen Aleena, it is an honour to meet you at last. I do apologise for my rather rude greeting but with your borders so heavily armed, I had no choice but to go all out." he let out a chuckle, he clearly wasn't the type to feel bad at the destruction he caused.  
"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, roboticist, scientist, evil genius if you will... I'm not quite used to this planet you Mobians live on and I thought that since I'm a tourist, you could assist with my navigation?"

Aleena looked at him in confusion, he couldn't possibly just need directions, could he? No, he was after something more. Something worse.

Robotnik grinned, he could instantly tell what she was thinking of.

"I'm sure you're aware of the jewels of miracles, the Chaos Emeralds? I've been studying them quite a bit for most of my life, yet I've never seen one myself."

"And that's why you decided to ravage every continent on this planet? Don't think I don't know what you've been doing, we were expecting your arrival since you attacked the Kingdom of Knothole!"  
Aleena spat out.

Robotnik simply glared at her.  
"Not quite as queenly as I expected, Aleena. Well I suppose I should drop my polite act too." he leaned in closer, "where is the Green Hill Chaos Emerald?"

Aleena simply laughed at him, "If you think I will reveal the location of such an important jewel, then I'm sorry, you're asking the wrong Mobian. I cannot help you."

Helios stepped in front of her, ready to defend as he summoned a lance from thin air, Aleena pushed him away though.

"I need you to leave, brother. Now, to protect Sonic."

Helios looked back in shock but nodded his head in understanding, he activated a switch on his belt and teleported away.

Robotnik only chuckled at this, seemingly unphased.

"Your last line of defense is gone, Queen. Now let me help you understand what's at stake here" a fleet of robots came from the mother ship and began to surround the balcony.  
"Tell me where the Emerald is located and I will leave you Kingdom alone."

Aleena looked down from the balcony, she could see the army had evacuated the city and gave the all clear as they teleported away, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at Robotnik with a look of uneasy confidence in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you what I don't know."

Robotnik simply stared at her, emotionless. She knew what would come next, but it was the right thing to do, he must never get his hands on the Chaos Emeralds.

"So be it. Badniks, open fire!"


	2. Chapter 1 - Responsibility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this story planned for a while so updated might be a little quicker than usual!
> 
> Thank you all for reading and for the kudos, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

"Sonic!"

He lazily opened one eye and chuckled, Uncle Helios was going into drill sergeant mode again, typical.  
He flipped the switch on his music player and started playing some loud rock music.

"Sonic get down here now!"

He chuckled as he carried on listening to his uncle's rambling, if he was gonna get louder, then he should as well, he drifted his hand over the stereo and turned the volume up.

Bad idea.

The next thing Sonic saw before he was dragged by the ear downstairs was his uncle's infuriated face at his disobedience.

"Every time, every time I try to shape you up into a responsible adult, and you continue to act like a child, what would your mother say?"

"Go have fun, you're twelve years old?" Sonic sneered back at him.

Helios simply sighed and dragged his hand over his face, sure Sonic was twelve years old, but surely he should have some sense of responsibility, he was born into this position, with his power, he must use it for the good of the ravaged planet! 

It had been twelve years since Green Hill was invaded by Robotnik, no Mobian knew where he came from and why he wanted the Emeralds, he just showed up and wrecked havoc, most were living in hiding trying to get by, though some parts of the world were untouched, it was only a matter of time before he looked for the Emeralds there too. 

This was why Sonic was needed. He had a gift and he needed to use it the right way. 

He brought Sonic out to the training area outside, the trees surrounding the small house provided good cover for training and at least blocked out some of the noise they made, he pulled out his stop watch and signalled to Sonic. 

"Are you ready?" 

Sonic rolled his eyes and half-heartedly got into his starting position on the ground. 

"Sure, why not." 

"Then go!" 

Sonic took off with tremendous speed, it was indescribable how fast he could run, his legs simply kept going and going as they carried him forward, barely touching the ground as if he were floating. His arms were flying back as his body leaned forward the faster he got, almost like a torpedo. 

Helios looked at Sonic with pride, he then flipped a switch on his belt and as Sonic continued running, small dummies popped from the ground and shot small pebbles at Sonic, like bullets. 

Sonic simply chuckled at this, this was nothing.   
With his speedy legwork, he simply dodged the oncoming projectiles are they hurtled towards him, he then lept into the air and charged forward to smack the dummy, homing in like a missile. 

More dummies grew closer as some wheeled ones approached, they began to surround Sonic. 

"Same thing every time, huh uncle? When are you gonna make this interesting?" 

He zipped from the middle and began to run around the dummies faster and faster until the wind propelled began to create a small tornado, carry the dummies in the air and smashing them on the ground. 

Sonic continued running towards the goalpost until a larger dummy blocked his way, obviously a new target set by Helios. 

Sonic looked at the dummy and grinned. 

"Guess now's a great time to test this out, I have a brand new trick up my sleeve!" 

He ran towards the dummy and began to curl into a ball and roll towards it, rolling faster and faster until he collided with the dummy and drilling a hole straight through it. 

Unfortunately he didn't uncurl in time, as Sonic didn't quite remember what happened after that. Possibly because he smacked dab into a tree at such a tremendous speed. 

He woke up feeling groggy, with the smell of his uncle's awful vegetable soup in the air, it was dreadful.   
His uncle sighed and picked up a ladle, pouring the soup in a bowl and giving in to Sonic. 

The blue Hedgehog reluctantly ate the soup, much to his distaste. It was clumpy and sour, but it'd probably do a good job.   
He knew he'd get a lecture from his uncle in a few seconds. 

Maybe five. 

Helios coughed. 

Four. 

Helios turned his head up. 

Three. 

He looked at Sonic dead in the eye. 

Two. 

"I know it's been hard adjusting to this lifestyle." 

There it was. 

"But you need to understand your responsibility, Sonic. You're a Prince, you're the saviour, the planet is in danger and they need you!" 

Sonic simply looked away and put his bowl down. He got up from his bed and walked away. 

"I'm just a kid, Helios. It's not my fault the world is like this! I just want to enjoy my life and run free! I have this power for a reason, but shouldn't I do what I want with it?" 

Helios was clearly growing angry with this, he was growing older and Robotnik could destroy the planet, couldn't his unruly nephew realise this? 

"Sonic, you need to understand! This planet is in danger, I need to keep training you or you'll never learn how to protect it!" 

Sonic turned around and glared at Helios, the anger burning in his eyes. 

"You're not my mother, Uncle. You're not the ruler either. You can't dictate what I do with my life so stop pretending you can." 

And with that, Sonic slammed his bedroom door. 

Helios looked down on the ground, tears forming in his eyes. 

"He's quite like Aleena, isn't he?" 

Helios turned to see Longclaw standing next to him. He grew a small smile on his face and relaxed. 

"He's quite the spitfire, much like Aleena was as a kid." Helios rubbed his chin in thought. "Definitely hard to control." 

Longclaw chuckled in response. "A flower can't be controlled, Helios. You can't choose when it blooms, it must grow on its own accord." 

Longclaw left Helios and approached Sonic's room. 

"I'll have a talk with him." 

\------

Manic tapped his sticks on the top of his bunk bed, man it was boring today, usually Scraps and Needles would take him out to rob some rich family for fun but there was nothing to do today. Rainy days were the worst. 

Manic was apparently meant to go to some rich family when he was born.   
Rich, secure, snobby.   
Manic hated all that stuff anyway. Longclaw always kept apologising that it turned out this way, that some thieves found his basket and took him in. Manic honestly couldn't care less.   
He was happy, he was fed (occasionally) and he was loved. Family sticks together and that's what he has, a family. 

He tapped his drum shaped medallion and out popped his drum kit, on quiet days like this, it called for a practice, with Scraps and Needles out of the house, it called for a bit of noise without the nagging. 

Unfortunately as soon as his stuck hit the first symbal, he heard yelling. 

Great, they were back early. 

A scrawny shrew had burst into his room angrily, he tapped Manic's medallion and the drum kit warped back inside. 

"Are you insane? Do you want us to get caught? Your drums are so ridiculously loud!" 

Manic chuckled. "Maybe but it's so boring here! Can't we just find someone to rob?" 

Scraps chuckled and sat on Manic's bed. 

"You wish, it's impossible in this weather, nobody outside. What about you project? You can work on that!" 

Manic didn't think about that, though he hadn't touched it in a while. 

He pulled out a box from under his best and opened it, he gently lifted out a hover board from the box and laid it on the table. 

"I can't believe it, my own adopted boy making an Extreme Gear, I'm so proud of ya." 

Manic chuckled at the compliment, in the Mobian underworlds, hoverboarding was a popular sport, he figured if he made one of his own, the prize money could rescue his family from poverty. 

Manic opened the circuit board inside and sighed. 

"I would be proud myself but until the battery is fixed, I can't use it." 

Scraps looked away and sighed, then pulled out a satchel. 

"Well I suppose now is a good time, I know it's ya birthday in a month but me and Needles stole this a couple weeks back and thought it'd be a good gift, try it out." 

He shook the satchel and out popped a brand new battery, perfect for the gear.   
Manic happily took it and it fit in perfectly, his board was finally complete. 

"I don't know what to say, thank you!" 

Needles came in soon after and they both gathered around Manic to watch him switch on the board.   
Manic took a deep breath and flicked the switch, the board began to rise and it perfectly lifted from the ground, it was complete. 

Needles watched his adopted son float on the board joyfully, he was proud of him, so very proud. He didn't feel an ounce of guilt taking him with his partner Scraps, he thought they did a good job raising him. 

Scraps on the other hand felt unsettled, there was something going on. 

Scraps scrambled to the top of the house and saw exactly what he expected. Badniks approaching the shack. 

Scraps lept down the roof and rushed into Manic's bedroom, he gathered his things together into a small rucksack and got back to the entrance where Needles watched Manic. 

"Manic, get down!" 

"What do you mean?" 

"The Badniks are here, you need to leave!" 

Manic had no time to argue, he was given the bag by his dad and was shoved on his board. 

"Go find help, find your siblings, it's not safe for you here though. We'll hold up the Fort but we need you safe." 

"But-" 

"Family sticks together, Manic. We will always be together, just not physically. Now go." 

Manic's board set off, carrying him along, away from the old city. He couldn't bare to look, it was too much for the young Hedgehog to handle, and when he did look back, the last thing he saw was his parents kneel down. 

His family was gone. 

\--------

"Now, position your fingers as so..." 

"Yes mother." 

Leona blushed at this. Sonia calling her mother? She was never used to it, despite Sonia knowing they weren't biologically related, she still referred to themselves as mother and daughter, it was heartwarming to say the least.   
The lioness looked at the young Hedgehog girl playing the grand piano, it was part of their routine everyday and Sonia seemed to have taken to it right away, she was so talented and so very ladylike, she wondered if Queen Aleena was like this as a child. 

Sonia turned to Leona, as if to ask if she was doing a good job.   
Leona nodded and the two continued playing. 

About halfway through the song, Sonia suddenly stopped playing and turned back to Leona, she looked up at her with a look of uncertainty. 

"Mother..." She began, Leona noticed the tears welling up in her eyes, whatever was troubling her, she was obviously thinking about it for a long time. "Do you think I'll ever be able to see my brothers again?" 

Leona thought about this, she knew Sonia would ask this question but she honestly had no idea what to say. In all honesty, House Lionel was one of the safest places away from Robotnik's attacks due to its seclusion in the mountains and well trained guards.   
The agreement with Longclaw was to let Sonia leave the house if the Badniks ever reached there, but in Sonia's twelve years of living, such a threat never arrived, so why should she leave? 

Sonia noticed Leona comtemplating this and turned away sadly, she was grateful for her keeping her safe all these years but someday she'd have to leave, it was only a matter of time. 

"I understand, I'll be going to bed soon mother, I'll just go brush my ha-" 

"Sonia, wait." 

Sonia turned around to see Leona with a look of sorrow on her face, this was it. It was time to let Sonia go. 

"Sonia, we can't keep you here forever, you're right, it's time you go find your brothers and bring peace back to this planet, come with me." 

The two walked through the halls towards a garage, Leona's bodyguards often trained in this area but Sonia had never seen it herself, Leona sighed as she typed in a code and the door opened. 

Sonia was in awe at what she saw. 

It was beautiful, the single greatest motorbike Sonia had ever seen in her life, so sleek, so detailed, by appearances alone she knew this baby would be fast, but why was Leona giving this to her? 

Leona took Sonia's hand and led her to the bike. 

"It was going to be your birthday present next month but since you're leaving, we better keep you well protected." She pointed at the various buttons and controls on the bike. "It'll have everything you need, boosters, guns, missiles, just enough to give you a safe journey in case the Badniks find you." 

Leona looked down at Sonia's medallion. 

"Please stay safe, you don't have powers unlike most Mobians so that Medallion will keep you safe." Sonia looked at her in shock. "I know I told you to never use it because it was dangerous but now you'll need it more than ever." 

Sonia nodded and saddled herself on the motorbike, revving it up. Luckily the guards were always there to teach her how to ride these things. 

With a quick final hug, Sonia looked lovingly at her adopted mother... No, real mother, the one who took care of her. 

"Goodbye mother, stay safe. I promise I will find my brothers!" 

"I know you will, goodbye." 

With that, Sonia revved up the bike more and drove away from the mansion, it was time to find her brothers. 

\------

"Sonic, please let me in." 

It was Longclaw! 

Sonic lept from his bed and dashed to the door, letting her in. 

"I'm glad you're here, Helios is in power crazy mode right now... He doesn't get it, I'm just a kid!"

Longclaw sighed and wrapped her feathers around the young Hedgehog's back. 

"I know he can be hard on you..." she began, she needed to think hard about what she said, one wrong word and he could turn on her any second. "He's doing what he thinks is best for you." 

"But-" 

"I know, I know, you didn't ask for this to happen, nobody did, I'm certainly not expecting you to save the world on your own it wouldn't be right to ask that. Never mind what Helios wants, I want to ask you to do one thing for me." Longclaw spoke softly, Sonic pricked up his ears in interest. "I want you to be responsible with your powers and not use them for selfish reason, you can't save the planet on your own but you can help other people." 

Sonic looked down at the ground, he hated to admit it but she had a point. 

"Alright, I promise." 

Longclaw raised and eyebrow cautiously. 

"A promise is an easy thing to say, young one. You need to make sure you do it."

Sonic was about to speak up until they both heard a crash downstairs, he rose to his feet until Longclaw raised her wing in front on him to keep him back, whatever happened it wouldn't be safe. 

She slowly opened the door to his room and went downstairs as Sonic followed, until she froze in her steps at what she saw. 

Helios was there, but not with his trademark scowl. He was on the floor, with a Badnik Patroller's arm gun leaving a trail of smoke from its barrel. 

Sonic could only look in horror, they found them. The Badniks found them and took his uncle.   
He had been so selfish that he couldn't protect his uncle or even make up with him before this happened. 

"This is all my fault..." 

Longclaw couldn't hear him, her mind only filled with anger, she swooped in the air and dove down, pinning the Badnik to the ground and swiping at the bot with her talons, when she knew the Badnik was dead, she looked back at Sonic with a nod. It was time for them to leave. 

Sonic couldn't remember anything next, all he could think about was running... And his uncle's body... 

"Longclaw I'm sorry..." 

She flew closer to him as he ran, the tears clearly streaming down his face as he kept running. He was just a child and he has been put through so much, the world was too cruel to children. 

"Sonic, it doesn't matter now." she must have sounded so cold but it was the truth. "What matters is, you find your siblings. You've had your training, now the real fight starts." 

They finally stopped running and reached the entrance of a cave. 

"You should be hidden if you keep walking in here. I need you to find the Freedom Fighters, they're fighting against Robotnik and they need more recruits." she pulled a gold badge from her satchel, inside was a symbol of an acorn. "Go to the Forest Continent, the Knothole Kingdom Ruins, they'll be there. Go, now!" 

"But what about you?" 

"I'll be fine, I promise, keep running Sonic, keep running and don't look back."

He nodded and looked at the entrance of the cave , it was dark, it was imposing, but he had no choice. 

Keep running and don't look back.


	3. Chapter 2 - Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish I saw enough Sonic Underground but apparently the show didn't age that well.  
> Still, I hope I got Manic and Sonia's personalities right.
> 
> Enjoy!

His legs were going to give out soon, he kept running for what seemed like forever, but he couldn't stop, they would catch up with him soon.  
He couldn't forget that image of his uncle, laying on the ground, so helpless, unable to fight back.  
He knew what his uncle was like, he'd have definitely put up a fight, when it came to wielding a spear, no Mobian on the planet could match his skill.

But now he was gone, because Sonic couldn't be responsible, because he had to start an argument and storm off upstairs.

It was time to stop running, he couldn't take the pressure anymore, he found a flat looking rock on the ground and sat down. His breath laboured, clearly shown when he breathed out, only then he realised how cold the cave was when he stopped running.

How would he even find his siblings? What were their names... Manic and Sonia? It would be nice to meet them finally, hopefully they had a better life than he had, less pressure and more looked after since they apparently didn't have powers like he did.

He remembered that first day he ran, apparently his first steps were already a mad dash, he was a born runner, not a walker. Apparently Longclaw had to rescue him from falling off a cliff because he couldn't stop running.

He chuckled, he always was like that. Carefree, living in the moment, wondering where danger was so he could take it head on.

Always relying on Longclaw to bail him out...

He shook his head to ignore what he saw. Like Longclaw said, it was over. He had to move on and grow up finally.  
Two things he had to do, find his brother and sister, then find the Freedom Fighters.

Then save the world?

It was a tall order, but it would be easier than doing it himself.

He was about to set off again until he heard some faint footsteps approaching him from one of the tunnels, Sonic instantly jumped up to his feet and switched into his fighting stance with his fists held in front.

This is it, a real Badnik, not some dummy set up by Uncle Helios, it was the real deal.

"You can relax, blue. I'm harmless."

He put his fists down the second he saw who was approaching.

It was a Hedgehog, his quills were similar to Sonic's but they were green, he wore an orange jacket and had piercings in his ear, around his neck was a silver necklace.  
His hair was so unruly, you could barely see his eyes under the spikes.

But a familiar feeling began to cloud in Sonic's stomach, something warm, something nice, something nurturing...

Family.

"Manic?"

The green Hedgehog chuckled and ran towards Sonic.

"You got me!"

The two laughed as they embraced, they finally saw each other, the brothers had reunited after twelve long years. Sonic could feel tears welling up, but it wasn't sadness, it was nostalgia. He'd hardly knew this Hedgehog before but he felt so familiar.

"I can't believe it." Sonic chuckled to himself, "I'm actually meeting my brother face to face, I don't really know what to say."

Manic grinned at Sonic and sat down, Sonic sat on his rock, stretching his legs out.  
Manic reached into his back and pulled out an old flashlight, he switched it on and placed it on the ground, both brothers were able to see each other better now, especially Sonic, his blue fur seemed to glow in the light.

"So do we just ask each other questions? Break the ice?" Manic asked. He felt just as awkward as Sonic, the reunion was heartwarming at first but what would they even talk about?

"Well, where are you from, Manic?" Sonic asked.

"The slums, not exactly what you'd call high society but it's home. I'm a born thief so if you need someone to pickpocket or a lock that needs picking, I'm your guy." Manic looked at his bag with grief in his eyes. "I had a good family but..." he hesitated "they're gone now, Badniks got them."

Sonic looked at him in understanding, it would be best for him not to say anything. Manic was still obviously grieving, as was Sonic, both brothers had obviously been through a lot.  
He saw Manic reach into his bag again, only to come out empty handed.

"Darn... Forgot to pack some food."

Sonic's eyes widened.

"Food, I didn't think about that... I was in such a hurry to leave the house, I couldn't get anything!" Sonic laughed, Longclaw was certainly smart but in that situation, he thought food should have at least came to her head when she packed his bag.

The brothers sighed, maybe they'd have to go without food for the night.

They were about to unroll their sleeping bags until they heard a revving noise... Badniks. Of course they found them, they got careless in their reunion.  
Sonic jogged in one place to warm himself up when Manic nearly chuckled.

"Don't worry about me not having your fancy powers, Blue. I can defend myself too." He tapped his Medallion and out came his drum kit, he spun his drumsticks in both hands to prepare himself... And maybe to show off too. "Time to watch how the master fights!" 

Manic began to quickly tap one of the snares with both sticks, the tapping grew quicker and quicker until a tremor was felt in the ground, Sonic began to shake as he felt it, but the tremor grew more and more until rocks began to fall from the ceiling. 

"Stop!" 

Manic stopped instantly, he looked up in shock, as did Sonic.   
It was such a coincidence but she made it too. 

Sonia manged to find them, the siblings were reunited. 

A fire was set up in the Cave a few moments later, the air was thick with tension, Sonic could only manage small talk with Manic earlier, how could he handle speaking with his own sister? She didn't exactly give off a casual vibe like Manic did, by appearances alone it was clear she was high maintenance with her stylish pink hair curled in front of her face and her quills neatly tucked behind her, she seemed to have a similar medallion to Manic though. 

Manic sighed and stood up from his rock. 

"Alright, elephant is clearly on the room. So let's start off with introductions." he clearly had a look of interest in his face, he was glad someone was willing to break the ice. "So I'm Manic, obviously. I'm a thief or..." he hesitated "was a thief... Those Badniks put an end to that." 

Sonic put a reassuring arm around Manic's shoulder, but Manic simply shrugged it off. 

"Past is in the past right? I'm a family oriented kinda guy so I'm glad I finally found my real family!" he seemed to have a cheerful look but it was clear his enthusiasm masked his grief. 

Sonia stood up and brushed the dirt from her dress. "My name is Sonia of House Lionel." her brothers looked at her with dumbfounded looks. 

"Was that it?" Manic asked, with a deadpan look. "Just your name and title?" 

Sonic chuckled "Guess all nobles think that's the important part, huh?" 

Manic and Sonic both laughed to themselves as Sonia scowled at the two of them, only causing them to laugh harder. 

"Okay, okay" Sonic stood up and wiped his face. "Listen Princess, Manic and I are just different from you, is all. We weren't exactly raised in the best conditions, I had to train everyday for most of my life, not having tea parties with Lords and ladies." 

"Yeah, and I can't exactly sympathise with the rich folk myself." Manic added, his head leaning back into his arms. "People like you always looked down on my kind. We had to scrape to survive, not have it handed to us on a silver platter. So enough with the titles, Sonia. I want to actually know my sister, not her position." 

Sonia glanced at the two of them, they had a point but she was always told to state her title as it was something to be proud of, but she supposed it was a different case for the common folk. 

"I apologise for my actions, both of you. I was unaware of your situations growing up, it was wrong of me to assume you were the same." she kneeled down and warmed her hands by the fire, a soft look glowed on her face as the embers rose. "It would be nice to finally let go of aristocracy and be myself for once... So thank you both." 

Sonic smiled, this was it, his family. They were finally back together and were getting along.   
It felt perfect, like he felt whole again, or was that just the feeling of safety? 

Safety... That's right, this feeling was temporary, they had to leave soon to find the Freedom Fighters.   
Sonic reached into his satchel and pulled up the Freedom Fighter badge. 

"What do you guys know about this?" 

Manic's eyes instantly widened at the sight of the shiny object, grabbing it from his brother's hands as he studied the craftsmanship. 

"Well, looks like the symbol of the Knothole Kingdom... The Acorn royal family apparently wore this symbol a lot." He tossed the badge back to Sonic.   
"Might help us find these Freedom Fighters I keep hearing about, the three of us alone can't take them down, not in this cave at least, we need a base. What do we have? A guy that can run and two musical instruments." 

"You have each other, you can all find the way together." 

The three turned around and saw Longclaw, they didn't even notice when she entered.   
She looked quite battered and bruised, obviously she had fought a few Badniks to get here, but she made it and that was enough. 

She perched herself on a slightly higher rock, one of her wings slightly dragging on the ground as she lept up, her look of worry earlier seemed to had vanished the second she saw the triplets together, they had finally reunited this after so long. 

"You all know why you must find the Freedom Fighters, right?" 

Sonia nodded, "We can't fight Robotnik on our own, the Freedom Fighters are making a start on rallying the survivors against him. It's only a matter of time before he finds them first though so we must be quick." 

Manic nodded in agreement, but Sonic carried on looking at Longclaw, she obviously knew more. 

Longclaw noticed this and sighed, she hoped she wasn't asking too much of them but at this point, what choice did she have? The Freedom Fighters alone wouldn't be enough to take down this global superpower. 

"You all need to find the Chaos Emeralds." she said in a serious tone, even more so than usual. "They're the only way you can be strong enough. True, Sonic has his powers but that won't be enough. Find the Chaos Emeralds and the Freedom Fighters can take down Robotnik." 

The Chaos Emeralds? He'd heard his uncle mention them before but what were they actually? How could some shiny jewels help them take down a maniac dictator? 

"Longclaw, I think you've kept enough secrets from us. What are the Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic questioned. 

Longclaw sighed and pulled a small book from her satchel, flicking through to a page with the corner neatly folded over, she'd obviously been in this particular section a lot.   
She placed the book down in front of the triplets. 

"Long ago, the Chaos Emeralds appeared on this planet with no explanation, no Mobian knows why and how they arrived, they just appeared. Each continent kept one guarded to stop anyone from abusing their power." darkness clouded her eyes as she turned the page, "One day, without explanation... They vanished. I still sense their presence sometimes but I've been unable to find them since." 

Manic looked up from the book with a mocking look of skepticism.   
"So how do you expect us to find them? We're just a bunch of kids!" 

"And have never seen what they look like before." Sonia added. 

"Well, we won't know until we try!" Sonic lept to his feet. "I don't know about you guys, but this cave is kinda boring. I say we get looking for these Freedom Fighters." he picked up his bag and nudged his head in the direction of a nearby tunnel. 

Longclaw chuckled, even with his uncle gone, Sonic seemed to still have his enthusiasm. 

Manic and Sonia looked at each other, what else could they do? They couldn't stay in the Cave forever. 

"Well..." Manic reluctantly stood up. "Hunting for possibly lost Emeralds wasn't how I expected my teenage years to go." he picked up his bag and lazily let it hang from his left shoulder, "but I am a thief, guess it's in my blood to find them." 

Sonia stood up carefully and wiped down the dirt from her boots.   
"I agree, we have no other choice. It's time we stop lazing around and do something for this planet!" 

"Then head through this tunnel." Longclaw spread out her wing to direct them. "Some teleporters may still function in the Green Hill ruins. If you find them, they'll have the co-ordinates for Knothole saved in their data." 

"No worries, Longclaw, we got this." Sonic re-assured her confidently. 

Longclaw smiled soflty at them as she saw them leave through the tunnel, the moment she heard Sonia's bike revving up, she knew they'd be safe. 

"And remember!" she called out, her voice slightly obscured by the bike's noise, "your thoughts are your power!"


	4. Chapter 3 - On Our Own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew this one took a little longer but it's here! Now we get a real introduction to Robotnik!

Of course this would happen eventually, Sonia saw it coming.  
The problem is, she didn't remember what would have helped out in this situation.

Namely, extra fuel. As the bike was now empty and the triplets were in the middle of nowhere.  
But it would be fine, right? They had... Some food. Enough. They would find more supplies if they kept walking at least, so they would have no choice but to keep going.

"Well this sucks" Manic spat out while kicking Sonia's bike, "what use is a bike if you're not gonna bring fuel? What, did you forget to ask your servants to give you a canister?" 

"At least I actually have something! Your Extreme Gear is way too small to carry at least three Mobians, why even bring it?" Sonia yelled back. 

Sonic sighed and placed his hand over his eyes. Of course he could just run to Green Hill no problem, but with his siblings? There was no chance. They had to stick together now, after being separated their whole lives. 

He crouched to the ground and started to stretch his legs as he listened to his siblings argue. 

Left. 

Right. 

Left. 

Right. 

"This wouldn't have happened if you brought fuel! You airheaded princesses are all the same!" 

Left. 

Right. 

Left. 

Right. 

"You know, your rant against the rich isn't exactly helping us out in this situation!" 

Left. 

Right. 

Left. 

Right. 

"Look around us! What do you expect us to do? You're not coming up with any smart ideas!" 

Manic had a point, where were they? They'd been arguing for so long that they didn't pay attention to their surroundings. 

Manic scanned the area, his eyes squinted in concentration. 

"I've been here before. The robot graveyard, I used to come here with Scraps and Needles to find some scrap metal for building." he crouched to look at some of the rusted robots, there seemed to be endless piles of them, the scent of oil reeked in the air. Manic pulled up a lone metal spring from the ground. "The slums called the place the Scrap Brain Zone, you'll find nothing but junk here." 

Sonic was about to give up until an idea hit him. 

"Wait, Badniks!" He ran to the top of the tallest junk pile and looked around the area. "You guys seen a Motorbug before? Looks like a ladybug, has a wheel?" 

Sonia shrugged, figures. 

"Look, they run like cars." Sonic sighed, "Uncle taught me about ever Badnik we know about so far, if they run like cars, they use fuel. There might still be some here with some fuel left over!" 

Sonia lit up. 

"Great idea, Blue!" Manic replied. 

The group split up and searched the area for old Motorbugs. 

Sonic slowly walked across the junkyard, occasionally stumbling ever few seconds when he tripped over the odd piece of shrapnel, the air felt so damp and suffocating, like his lungs were being placed in a vice. The sooner they found the fuel, the better, but for now this would be insufferable. He was about to continue with his search until his eye caught onto something.

He crouched down to look at the shiny object, "What's this old thing?" he pondered. He picked it up, it looked like a ring, a small golden loop. Nothing special in particular until Sonic looked at the engraving inside.

"Green Hill... Kingdom of Hopes and Dreams" he read slowly, until he realised.

They had been on the bike for a fair amount of time, the landscape didn't really change much but they definitely had taken a lot of time, enough time to reach Green Hill.

They made it, this was Green Hill. 

It wasn't at all like Longclaw described it... 

\--------

"Sonic, here. Look at this." she held up her wing to point in the direction of what looked like a scrapbook she put together. 

Sonic slowly stood up and clumsily sprinted over, he was still young, just a small Hedgehog around five years old at the time, Longclaw had taught him a lot about his home back then.   
She opened it to one of the pages to show a photograph of a king and a queen. 

"Do you recognise them, Sonic?" 

He slowly shook his head. 

"They're your parents" Longclaw whispered, "You're a Prince, Sonic." Sonic lept up in excitement at this revelation. 

"You mean I'm a Prince? I'm gonna be a king and tell everyone what to do?" he jumped up and down excitedly, still babbling on until he tripped slightly and landed face first on the wooden floor, Longclaw gently turned him over to see him still giggling. "That's so cool, Longclaw! I can't wait to see my home!" he sat up straight, rubbing his nose as some dust got caught in. "What's home like?" 

Longclaw turned to another page, "this is Green Hill Kingdom, the name gives away what it's like, truly a beautiful paradise filled with beautiful waterfalls, bright yellow flowers and smooth hills, perfect for you when you run." Sonic giggled at this.

"You'll get there soon, I promise" she gently stroked his head with her wing. 

\-------

This wasn't home, this was hell. 

What was this feeling inside of him? He'd usually brush these feelings off and go for a run, the wind between his quills would usually be enough to calm him down. 

But there was no wind here, not anymore. Just smoke and fog, gripping to his throat tight and refusing to let go, it made Sonic feel an emotion he'd never thought he would feel before. 

Rage. 

He screamed, for the first time in his life he let himself drop to the ground and scream. It was too much for him, this was his home and he could never see it again, the only thing his instincts told him to do was scream as the tears fell down his face, one he let it out, all he could do was curl into himself and simply crouch to the ground. 

Manic and Sonia heard this, who wouldn't? Sure they found the fuel for the bike, but Sonic was more important. They salvaged the canister from the Motor bug and caught up with Sonic, still crouching to the ground. 

Sonia approached him slowly and gently placed her hand between his two back quills, his breathing felt choppy, trying to hide his sobs. It was a different Sonic from what she saw back in the cave, so full of life and a cocky answer to every question. This was raw emotion, like he'd been concealing it all these years. 

"Nobody tried to rebuild it." they heard him shakily whisper, "they just let the ruins build up as the robots came here to die." 

He stood up and shook his head, lazily wiping the tears from his eyes. 

"We can't stay here, we've got a scientist to take down and I say we do it now" the blue Hedgehog proclaimed. 

"What?" Sonia questioned, "are you insane? He has an entire robotic army to take up down and you want to take him on now? You're crazy!" 

"I dunno, he has a point" Manic piped in, resting his arm on Sonic's shoulder, "Sonic's a tough guy and we got these." he gestured to his necklace "maybe we have all we need, Robotnik's never seen a guy like Sonic before, I think we have a chance!" 

"But he's a global superpower, this is what he's done to just one continent!" 

"I don't care." Sonic answered back, his head facing away from his siblings, only for him to turn around and grin at Sonia. "besides, I think mom would've wanted up to, she definitely would've believed in us!" 

Sonia decided it was pointless to argue, she was a sister stuck between two stubborn brothers, it was a losing battle. 

The group continued through the scrap yard until Manic's foot made an unfamiliar noise on the ground, sure it sounded like metal but underneath it sounded more hollow, like it was hiding something. 

Manic noticed this and stopped his siblings, he crouched down to take a closer look and gently knocked his fist on the metal plate, it was hollow alright, it was a secret door. 

He reached into one of his pockets until he found a rusty looking device. 

"This is a little invention made by Scraps" he pointed it towards the door and flicked a switch on top of it, a beam shot out and there was a clicking noise behind the door, "think of it as a calculator, it can determine as many combinations as possible to unlock a door and does it remotely, pretty clever, huh?" 

He kicked the door open to show a dark pit, as soon as it opened the smell of oil and rust came through, it was more revolting than the air outside, would they be able to handle it inside? 

It looks like they didn't have a choice though, shelter would be preferable if it rained the by the looks of the fumes, it may be slightly acidic. 

Sonic jumped in first, landing squarely on his feet, then came Manic, with a slightly less than graceful ending.   
Finally came Sonia, who managed to figure out that there was a ladder that her brothers didn't seem to notice.   
Typical. 

Manic pulled a flashlight from his bag, gave it a good tap on the side until it weakly flickered and turned on, there seemed to be nothing of value in the room, only rusted walls of metal. 

"Looks like a cooling tunnel." Manic brought up, "Might be able to lead us to his main base on Christmas Island. We better keep the pace up."

The group continued until they reached a door, Manic used his lock pick again and they broke in, reaching a poor circular room, the lights flickering on as soon as they entered.

"Get her in there! Put her in the chamber!"

The triplets heard a high pitched yell, the voice was synthetic but almost childlike, they looked around the room and found a workbench to hide behind as the door opened.

Our came a small black robot with a jetpack and a colourful rucksack. His head seemed to curl like devil horns to betray his childlike appearance.

"Are you bucket of bolts deaf or something? I said bring her in here!" the triplets heard him yell, he seemed to have some emotional range compared to the rest of Robotnik's Badniks.

After he yelled, a team of Swatbots came in holding a Mobian, a brown rabbit with long blonde hair.

"Y'all better let go of me!" she yelled at them as she struggled, "these shapely legs o' mine ain't just for show ya know! I can give a good kick if ah can!"

The Badniks ignored her and took her to the middle of the room, there there was a pod which opened after scanning her facial features, the bots threw her in and left.  
The small black Badnik chuckled as he hovered towards the pod.

"Should've kept your nose out of Robotnik's business you know! This is what you get, roboticisation! I wouldn't worry, the process is painless but completely irreversible!" the Badnik let out an annoyingly high pitched laugh as he flew out of the room.

"We have to free her!" Sonic rose to his feet until he heard noises near the door, he crouched down as the door exploded and a group of Mobians came in.

"Nicole, we've reached the base. We're preparing to rescue Bunnie" a female voice came form the middle, she seemed quite composed despite the situation.

A larger figure placed a detonator on the outside of the pod, blowing up the lock and opening it, Bunnie limply fell out as the team held her body.

"Bunnie has been retrieved, let's go Fighters!" the female yelled again, they teleported away before the triplets could ask them any questions. 

Sonic slowly rose from behind the workbench and studied the area, then turning back to his siblings. 

"We missed them, why'd we stay so cautious? The Freedom Fighters were right there and they vanished because we stayed too careful!" 

Sonia shook her head, "Sonic, we had no way of knowing they were the Fighters, they could be loyalists to Robotnik for all we know, we can't just trust everyone." Manic nodded in agreement. 

Sonic sighed and glared at his sister, "it's that kind of attitude we don't need, if we keep being cautious, we won't beat Robotnik." he walked up to Sonia, standing directly face to face with her, "if we find him, we are taking him down immediately." 

Sonia was about to open her mouth and talk back to him until Sonic turned his back to her, it would be wise not to argue with him, not in this state. She hadn't known Sonic for long but she could tell the blue hedgehog had an answer for everything, though not always necessarily right. 

The triplets excited the room and headed down a hallway, the base seemed to be suspiciously empty, Manic seemed to think so anyway.   
He's been in enough heists to know that this was going to be a trap though, it would only be a matter of time until...

Wait...

He eyes darted to a square piece of metal attached to the wall, a red light shone clearly from it, and of course Sonic wouldn't notice. 

"Sonic, stop!" it was too late, his brother passed by the light, a millisecond later the hallway was lit up by a flashing red light to alert the base and a siren wailed louder and louder, stinging their ears. 

Sonic grabbed his siblings' arms are he attempted to run off, only to smack into a shield generated around them, they were trapped. Manic gave the shield a flick with his finger, it wasn't visible to the eye but a small impact caused the screen to flicker with a blue light. 

Yeah, they were trapped alright. 

Obviously Sonic couldnt accept that, he curled into a ball and continuously rolled into one spot, what was he doing?

Manic and Sonia couldn't tell until he dashed from that very spot to try and break the shield, he was like a blue cannonball but even that couldn't take it down. He kept trying over and over until the small black robot from earlier entered the hallway. 

"Oh, you're the ones who broke in!" the high pitched voice shrieked at them, how could a nasally voice come from a robot of all things? "give me one good reason why I shouldn't take you to the doctor?" 

Sonic lept up at this, it was finally their chance!

"The good doctor is here, huh shorty?" the robot scowled at this, "well then, we're the prisoners, take us to your leader!" 

\----

"I've got them, Robotnik! They wanted to see you!" 

The triplets were transported from their prison to Robotnik himself, his room seemed to be quite circular, with computers on almost every wall, security cameras seemed to be tracking almost every spot on Christmas Island, it looked like he still hadn't found one of the Emeralds yet even after twelve years. 

"Nice work, Bokkun." Robotnik turned around to look at the three Hedgehogs. "I'm so glad the children of Aleena have decided to grace me with their presence, tell me, were my Badniks hospitable?" 

"They could ease up on their grip, my arm is killing me." Manic retorted. He tried to loosen up his shoulder as his face winced in pain, he had a point, the Badniks seemed to enjoy causing pain even in the smallest of circumstances. 

Robotnik only laughed at his response. He pushed a button on one of his many consoles and some chair popped up from the ground, the Badniks roughly pushed the triplets on the ground as Robotnik leaned against his console. 

"I may be destroying your land but I'm still hospitable to guests, a mad scientist can still be a gentleman you know, I'm also a feminist too if that helps." Sonia only rolled her eyes at this remark, there was no way he was going to get through to them with his charming act, they knew who this man was, they knew he killed their mother. 

"Quit the act!" Sonic lept to his feat, his eyes narrowing down in anger at Robotnik. "We know you're after the Emeralds and you're out of luck, we don't know where they are!" 

Robotnik sighed and flicked the switch again, the chairs disappearing. 

"Honestly, I don't know why I even bother. You don't seem to understand how important those Emeralds are, what lengths I would go to to retrieve them. Obviously you rats will be of no use to me, so I suppose I better crush you instead." he clicked his fingers a hovering, sphere shaped transporter floated in the room, Robotnik climbed into it and the bottom opened, revealing a huge wrecking ball attached to a strong looking chain. 

The triplets prepared to defend themselves, the mobile began to spin, taking the wrecking ball with it to try and crush the siblings, Sonic grabbed their hands though and began to run around the room, the ship clearly wasn't fast enough to catch them, Sonic was way too fast for it, he tossed his siblings gently to the side and sprang in the air like a bolt of lightning, delivering one sharp kick to the cockpit to send it flying. 

The ship crashed into the wall, it obviously wouldn't be enough to take him down though, it only frustrated Robotnik further as he pounded his fists on the console in anger at this. 

Once Manic knew he was safe, he tapped his medallion, put came his drumkit and he twirled his sticks in preparation, crashing both of them down on the symbols to let out a soundwave, shattering Robotnik's glass cockpit and leaving him vulnerable. 

"Great work, Manic!" Sonia yelled at him, she tapped her medallion and out came a Keytar, she closed her eyes to concentrate and played a few chords, letting out a laser from the neck, shot directly at the chain and separating the wrecking ball from the ship. "Now, Sonic! Take him out!" 

Sonic nodded and jumped into the air, homing into the now vulnerable Robotnik with a dash in the air, Robotnik grinned at this though, flicking a switch on his belt and causing him to teleport away. 

The ship was knocked back and crashed into the console, as the triplets walked over to investigate, a siren began to ring. 

Bokkun flew in and yelled at them in anger. 

"You dolts! You set off the self destruct!" he continued to rant until the Badniks dragged him away. 

Sonic frantically searched the room for a way out, this was his fault, he was too reckless and he put his siblings in danger because of his selfishness! What would he do? There was nothing, he didn't even know where they were. 

He was about to give up until something caught his eye, he didn't see it on the ground before but Bokkun must have dropped it, he dashed over and picked it up, it was round as a faint light flickered in it, it was a teleporter! 

"You too, over here!" he called his siblings over and held them both tightly. "I know I'm reckless, I know I make too many quick decisions, but I promise I'm going to fix this, I'm getting you both out of here!" 

The teleporter activated, sending the triplets away. Leaving the base to explode. 

\------

"Robotnik! Where are you? I've been looking everywhere, you shouldn't have left us like that!" Bokkun continued to call out for his creator, he was glad he built this base so high up in the air, luckily those pesky triplets only blew up a roboticising plant, there was plenty more where that came from. 

He flew into the main deck and finally saw his creator, wincing as he was being treated for his injuries. 

"Robotnik, boy they sure kicked your butt, huh?" Bokkun giggled at this, he'd probably get in trouble but it was funny nonetheless. 

Robotnik only scowled at this, then looked out the window, deep in thought.   
There's no way they'd find this base, the Robotnik Death Sphere was so high up in space that no Mobian could track it, it was time he moved onto the next phase of his plan. 

Still... That blue Hedgehog had powers like he'd never seen before, he moved like a bullet coming out of a gun. How could he move that quickly?   
He knew most Mobians were born with special powers, some could summon weapons, some could control the elements, others could just be really strong. 

But that Hedgehog? Any faster and he could break the sound barrier.   
He could use something like that. 

"Bokkun, clear my schedule for today. Before I make my announcement to the planet, I'd like to work on something new." he strided over to his work table and began to work on a new blueprint. "What was that blue Hedgehog's name, Bokkun?" 

"Uh..." the robot hesitated, what did his siblings call him? "I think they called him Sonic?" 

"Sonic... Sonic the Hedgehog..." Robotnik murmered.


	5. Chapter 4 - You Can Call me Tails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad I'm finally putting characters from the games in.
> 
> Manic and Sonia are cool but my boy Tails needs some love too.

"Just one more twist should do it, right?" the fox boy pondered, in front of him was a red biplane, quite large compared to him though he was a short kid. He bent over to pick up his wrench left on the floor as he connected it to one of the bolts on the outside of the plane, giving it a 180 degree turn to make sure it was tight.

The plane was finished.

"Alright!" he jumped up in excitement, his large twin tails seemed to allow him hover in the air as he floated around his new plane excitedly. He jumped into the cockpit, "I can't wait to show-" he stopped himself.  
No... He didn't have anyone to show, he didn't have many friends growing up and now most of West Side Island had been evacuated, at least that's what he saw from Emerald Hill, he never went any further from his workshop.  
Only eight years old and he's been living on his own for most of his life.

He'd need a miracle to get him out of this situation. 

Maybe a miracle was around the corner. 

Or a blue Hedgehog with his brother and sister, currently falling from the sky because their teleporter dropped them on West Side Island. 

Luckily a palm tree broke their fall but it was still a painful way down, the leaves were scratchy and left a painful rub-burn on Sonic's arms. 

"Are you two okay?" Sonic turned around to check on Manic and Sonia, they seemed to be but the annoyed look in their eyes seemed to betray this. Time for Sonic to do what he did best when he messed up, grovel. 

"Look, I know it was a dumb idea to go fight Robotnik head on, none of us were trained enough and I let my anger get the better of me." he looked down on the ground sheepishly, "I guess I thought this is what mom would've done." 

"How do you know that?" Sonia questioned, "none of us knew mother, how could you know what she would have done? Longclaw's stories alone wouldn't help you know her. She's gone, defeating Robotnik isn't going to magically bring her back." 

Sonic knew this, but he had such a big name to live up to, he'd be crown Prince of Green Hill and he had his mother's legacy to protect. If the triplets failed, it would be a failure on their mother's part too.   
Sonia noticed the guilty look on Sonic's face and reassuringly gave him a hug, holding him close by. Manic wrapped one arm around them both reluctantly.

"I know you mean well, brother, but we all need to work together." she let go, "we may do things differently which is why we need to compromise, I suggest we look for help to find the Freedom Fighters." 

"That's a great idea, duchess but I'm not even sure where we are." Manic took a half-hearted look around the area, it definitely wasn't a place he recognised. He snatched the teleporter from Sonic's hands to see the co-ordinates typed in. "West Side Island, looks like we're on an other continent alright but it's definitely not Knothole." the teleporter let out a flash and powered off. Manic sighed and tossed it away. "and lucky for us, we're now without power." 

Sonic palmed his head in frustration. "Right, no use being around here then, let's go guys." 

"And go where exactly, blue?" 

"I don't know, I don't care. Just somewhere. This island can't be completely deserted, right?" 

Manic shrugged, "probably, guess we'll find out. We'll either wander into help or Badniks, I'm really hoping it's the former." 

The triplets carried on through the forest, it seemed to be a tropical looking area, the grass was green but not like Green Hill, it had a certain sparkle to it, like an emerald. 

Eventually the trees began to lessen as they entered a more hilly area, it did seem to resemble a lot like Green Hill from Longclaw's pictures, the look of it filled him with such a nostalgic feeling, the breeze running through his quills like he imagined it, the sun's rays beaming down on him and the quiet noise of the running water by the creek.   
He'd never been here before but it felt so much like home, the home he'd never seen before.   
It was nice to find a small patch of paradise untouched by Robotnik. 

He couldn't resist, the terrain was perfect for it, he stretched his legs and set off immediately. The hills carried him so quickly as they felt perfect for his legs, it felt so natural like he was born to just sprint through this environment. To the common observer they'd just see a blue blur pass by and run through the tight turns and think nothing of it, but they would know just how it felt. 

For the first time in his life, Sonic ran by choice.   
He ran because he felt freedom, not to fight robots.   
He ran because he could enjoy it. 

"You know, you should really warn us next time you take off." he heard a chuckle from Manic, he turned around to see him on his Extreme Gear, Sonia nervously clutching to him as it hovered closer to the ground to let them off. He switched the power off and placed it back inside his bag. "You found a nice place though, blue. Even if you did take us pretty far." 

Sonic wondered what he meant until he peeked behind his siblings, gazing at the parted grass to give a hint to what his path was... He definitely ran a fair distance as he had lead his siblings all the way to the top of the hill.

Letting out a deep breath, he let his body flop to the ground and closed his eyes. 

Prince or not, Sonic needed a break. 

\-----

How long had he been asleep for? His emerald coloured irises revealed themselves as his lids opened slowly, it was morning when he decided to get some shut-eye but now the sun was setting. It was time to go, their moment of respite was comforting but it had to end. 

Sonic nudged his brother and sister, still sound asleep on the grass. His elbow nudged them a little harder until Manic let out a small "ouch" and leapt to his feet. 

Sonia noticed the sunset before her brother and sighed, back to finding the Freedom Fighters, they picked up their bags and continued down the hill. 

There was something in the distance though, was that a house? On its own? The area looked mostly unpopulated but this house was just sitting there on the next hill over, was someone living there? They had to know. 

Sonic grabbed his siblings arms, ignoring their protests as he dragged them over to the house, his legs began to give out a little on the way up the hill, he must have felt a lot more fatigued after that nap because clearly he hadn't recovered. 

Charging through the door of the house, the first thing that met Sonic's eyes was a lab, was it Robotnik? He had a lab here too it seemed. He got into his stance to prepare to fight until he heard a young, quivering voice.

"W-who are you?" Sonic looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from, in front of him he saw a crate filled with scrap metal, and right behind it, two yellow fox tails, identical to each other.   
Before Sonic could get any closer, a small Mobian rose from behind the crate, a young fox boy with blue eyes and yellow fur. His worried face seemed to turn to glee as soon as Sonic appeared. "You're not Badniks!" 

Manic chuckled, "Haven't seen a lot of Mobians around here have ya, kid?" the young fox looked down and shook his head, Manic noticed this and a sympathetic smile grew on his face, placing his arm gently on the young Fox's back, "There's nobody here, is there?" the fox shook his head. 

"What's your name?" Sonic decided to change the subject, he didn't want to cause anymore problems for the kid, he put two and two together and figured out the child was lonely for most of his life. 

"My name is Miles, Miles Prower but..." he hesitated but swallowed confidently, "you can call me Tails." he gestured to his twin tails, both waving one after the other in perfect synchronisation. 

This piqued Sonic's interest, the kid had two tails, was that normal?   
Tails could tell what Sonic was paying attention to most the second his eyes darted to his tails. He was used to it though. 

"I was born with these, I don't know why but I've always had two tails." he waived them both nervously, as if he was preparing for oncoming ridicule, so he was shocked to see Sonic's eyes widen with glee. 

"That's so cool!" the blue Hedgehog exclaimed, he tried to get a better look at Tails by taking a peak behind him but Tails only moved away shyly. "what's wrong?" he enquired, he didn't want to sound invasive but it was obviously troubling the kid. 

Tails looked down on the floor, "before everyone left, they'd make fun of me, I look like a freak." Sonic was surprised to notice the lack of tears from Tails, something this upsetting would typically cause someone to cry but if Tails had dealt with this much bullying as a kid, then he'd probably be used to it. 

Sonic shook his head at this, "no way, you're not a freak at all, you look awesome, Tails!" Tails tilted his head in confusion, awesome?  
Sonic noticed this and put a reassuring hand on the yellow fox's shoulder, "if they made fun of you, they're not worth the trouble. Every Mobian is unique, right? Think of this as your power!"

Tails looked away, looks like he still needed convincing.  
Sonic grabbed his hand to pull him outside, "c'mon, watch this."

They reached outside with Manic and Sonia following, Sonic began to stretch his legs in preparation.  
Tails was only more confused with this, he turned to Manic, his eyes filled with confusion which Manic picked on instantly.

The green Hedgehog only laughed at this and nudged Tails, "dont worry, you're gonna love this, kid."

Sonic turned to Tails and winked, "Every Mobian is special, right? Well here's what I was born with!"  
He crouched down in his starting position, slightly raising his back as he prepared to take off.  
The sun was still setting but the rays still shone on his back quills as he prepared himself, they seemed to make his fur sparkle in a way, like a blue lightning bolt.  
Well, if he was going to show off to the kid, he may as well do it in style.

Before Tails could piece together what he was doing, he could barely tell at what moment Sonic took off, all he saw was a flash of blue light and the grass parting ahead of him. He certainly heard a noise, with his ears he could hear anything but what happened? Did the Hedgehog disappear? Turn invisible?

Sonia noticed his confusion and sat down next to him, "most Mobians have powers, Tails. This is what Sonic can do, he'll be back in a couple seconds."  
And she was right, before Tails could count to five, Sonic ran back, barely looking tired at all.

He tried to pull off a cool pose to Tails, with his left arm lazily leaning on his hip, the siblings sure weren't amused but Tails certainly was, the giddiness and growing grin were obvious to Sonic when he got back, yeah, Tails was going to be fine.

\-----

"So how did you do it? Is it your shoes? Do you increase you mass when you run to increase your momentum? Are you made of electricity? Is it like teleporting?"

The questions continued when they made it back inside Tails' house. Manic and Sonia sure weren't interested but they'd be lying if they said they didn't find the kid's curiosity adorable.  
Sonic took his time to answer all of his questions, was this what it was like to have a fan? Usually most displays of his power were met by his uncle reprimanding him, though they weren't exactly used for noble purposes. 

This was different, he used his speed for a good reason, to help a kid, and it made Sonic feel pride, but not the kind of pride he usually felt, more so pride because he made someone happy. 

"So do you know how fast you can go? Like the exact miles per hour you can run at?" this question actually stumped Sonic, because he honestly had no clue. Math wasn't his strong point and he didn't recall his uncle ever making that calculation.   
Tails could tell he was struggling to come up with an answer, so he simply smiled and ran over to what looked like a large sheet covering something. 

"It's okay, I think this might give me a good idea?" the fox grabbed on of the ends of the sheet and gave it a quick yank, revealing a newly painted red biplane, Sonic was in awe at the sight. 

Manic took a closer look at the plane and gave one of the propellers a quick tug, "she's a sweet ride, kid. You rob this from Robotnik? If so, you have my respect!" 

Tails chuckled at this and shook his head, "actually, I made this! I've been living alone most of my life, I'm actually a self taught inventor!" he nervously scratched the back of his head, "it's the first fully functioning invention I've made though, she definitely flies, I only just got her paint job done today, she can reach about 255 mph." 

Sonia looked at the plane in shock, "a biplane moving at the speed of an average fighter jet? Tails, that's amazing!" he blushed at this compliment, then turned his head to Sonic. 

"So what do you say, wanna have a race? We'll see just how fast you can go!" 

"A race? You sure about this kid, I'm pretty fast!" Sonic bragged, the kid was smart but he could easily beat a plane. 

Tails hopped in the cockpit and flicked a switch, the doors of the back of his workshop opened as his plane slowly wheeled outside with Sonic following him. 

Manic and Sonia stood by each other as Tails' engine began to rev up and Sonic got into his starting position. Sonia sighed as she watched the two of them prepare to take off. 

"Do you really think we should be wasting time here?" 

"What do you mean, sis?" 

"It's cute that we're helping the kid, but we need to find the Freedom Fighters soon." 

"Yeah, I guess." Manic thought about what she said, she had a point but when in their life have they ever had the chance for a break? "you mean we'll Sonia, but we gotta stay away from the drama once in a while, y'know?" 

"By drama, you mean the planet being destroyed by a madman?" 

"Exactly. Drama. Now come on, let's cheer our brother on." he raised his hands to his mouth as he began to yell, "you can do it, bro!" 

"Yeah, you can do it, brother!" if you can't beat them, join them. 

The plane began to push forward, slow at first but the engine grew louder as it finally let out a burst of energy from the back, sending Tails into the air at a tremendous speed. 

Sonic didn't seem to start though. He chuckled as he loosened his arms a little more and hop on his spot before taking off. 

Always give the newbies a head start. 

It seemed to be going smoothly for Tails, reaching around 100mph, it was time to boost his speed though, he pulled a lever next to him, causing to propel the plane even further. 

He was a kid, of course he'd include rocket boosters in his plane. 

Sonic chuckled at this as he began to catch up with Tails, he'd definitely make it to the beach before him, he didn't even feel tired yet, but Tails seemed to know this, so it was time to put something in his way. 

Tails decided to take an alternate route, right through the Emerald loop, a strange piece of land where the road seemed to turn into a loop de loop, Tails could easily fly through the hole and there was no way Sonic would get past. 

The plane went through the loop smoothly and Tails carried on, he always was a smart kid. 

The blue blur felt so confident about winning that he was a few second late before noticing the loop, how would he get past that? Could he jump? The road was far too wide to jump over that, there was no way he could run around it without wasting precious seconds. 

Before Sonic could think of a plan, he was running through the loop. 

His speed kept increasing further and further, he'd gotten so fast that he was running through the loop, upside-down without falling. The Hedgehog could defy gravity itself. 

Tails was so prepared to reach the finish line until Sonic sped right past him, breaking Tails's speed record and reaching 300mph. 

The fox leapt from his plane and simply stared at Sonic in awe, Sonic was worried about this part, he beat the kid at a race and kids could be bad losers, would he hurt Tails' feelings?

His worries were gone as soon as Tails let out a loud "woohoo!" 

"You're amazing, you're so fast, faster than my plane!" he continued to circle Sonic until his Tails began to propel him in the air and fly around him. 

"Tails, you can fly?" 

"Oh! Uh..." he slowed down and gently landed on the ground, "yeah, I guess I can. If I spin them both, they're like propellers" once again, the fox braced himself for the oncoming bullying, until Sonic gently placed his hand on Tails' head in a brotherly fashion. 

"Tails, you're so cool." 

"Yeah... Yeah I am cool!" 

The two headed back to the workshop together, unaware of the shadow looming above Emerald Hill.


	6. Chapter 5 - Space Assault

"I would like you attention, Planet Mobius! Please direct your faces to the sky in which I am currently in! You may notice the gigantic space station orbiting this very planet!"

The shadow had now covered the entire continent, Sonic turned around to look up and cringed in disgust at the site before him.

He's heard of space stations before, they actually seemed pretty cool, he'd like to visit one some day.

This space station was the textbook definition of ugly, mainly because Robotnik had decided to plaster his face on the front of it.

"Now that you have all noticed the Robotnik Death Sphere, I would like to make an announcement to you all, as you are all aware, I am collecting the Chaos Emeralds and unfortunately, after twelve years I have been unsuccessful."

"You're telling me." Sonic quipped. 

"By now I imagine you are all mocking me for my failure, but behold my new strategy!" 

The surprising accurate depiction of Robotnik's nose on the sphere began to emit a glow, then shooting straight out directly to one of the mountains in Emerald Hill, one shot and the mountain simply crumbled from the damage. 

Tails stared in horror at what was happening with his home, he'd lived in peace on his own for so long but Robotnik caught up with him, now Emerald Hill was being threatened. 

Robotnik's ranting continued. "Now that you understand the gravity of this situation, let every continent on Mobius hear this. Bring the Chaos Emerald to Robotropolis on West Side Island within 24 hours, or your continents will be obliterated!" 

The voice seemed to cut off but the sphere remained in the air. Sonic turned to Tails and he seemed to have the same thoughts in his head, they both hopped in the plane and headed back to Tails' workshop. 

When they returned, they certainly weren't expecting the wrath of Sonia. 

"You're both so irresponsible! Sonic, you knew we were searching for the Freedom Fighters and you decided to have a race? What were you thinking?" she had a point, definitely. Finding the Freedom Fighters were absolutely a priority, and he probably made it worse by going to Robotnik sooner than expected. 

But it wasn't the time to dwell on things, it was time to hit Robotnik where it hurt the most.   
His pride.   
That ugly machine. 

He turned to Manic who lazily leaned against the wall, the green Hedgehog didn't seem too hopeful as his eyes were looking down on the floorboards, Sonia seemed to feel the same, they couldn't beat Robotnik before, how could they do it now?

Well maybe they didn't have to. 

"I know it's hopeless, guys." they turned their heads to look at Sonic, "but we can fix this. We take the fight to Robotnik and take down that station, we may not be able to beat him but we can still stop his plans!" 

"But how?" Sonia asked, she seemed to look a little more hopeful but there was still a shadow of doubt casting over, "We're just a bunch of kids, this is a space station." 

"We took down a robot factory, this one is just in the sky, we're just in a different location!" 

Sonia sighed at her Brother, he was delusional but she supposed they didn't really have much of a choice, it was time they took the fight to Robotnik, and it was going to be a real fight this time. 

"Well I'll help you too!" Sonic turned to see Tails, the fiery determination had clearly sparked inside him, "I'll get the plane ready, I think you can all fit in but if I take you to a base nearby we could get a shuttle to the station!" 

Grabbing his drumsticks, Manic approached tails and rested his hand on his right shoulder. 

"It's gonna be dangerous, kid. Are you sure you're ready?" 

"More than ready, time we teach that guy a lesson!" 

The plane ride was a lot quicker than expected, it didn't take long to find a shuttle base, it looked like Robotnik was starting to take over this continent too and hadn't reach Tails yet. 

They hopped out the plane as soon as they landed, Sonic gave a plane a good look, it was a fine piece of machinery but it felt like something was missing. 

Like a name. 

"Tails?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Do you have a name for this? If you're gonna make a name for yourself, you gotta give the plane a cool name." 

"Well..." he paused, he hadn't actually thought of a name yet, he was so focused on making it fast that it didn't really occur to him. 

Sonic could tell just by looking at Tails, so it was time to put in his own suggestion. 

"How about the Tornado? It's quick, powerful and of course, cool." 

Tails thought about it, the Tornado. Well it would've been better than whatever he could come up with. 

The Tornado it was. 

Though the red colour didn't really match it, maybe blue would look better. 

He would work on that later. 

In the distance stood a small metallic dome, it appeared to be too miniscule for anything to live there so no Badniks could be operating in the base, so this definitely was for transport. 

Manic gave a good kick to the door and shook his head, it was way too strong to take down on him own. 

"Watch this, boys." Sonia let out a patronising laugh as she strided over to the door, she let out a deep break and twisted her body around into a quick spin, like a tornado, the door was whacked away with ease, as if it was mere plastic. 

The three were speechless at this, Sonia could only chuckle. 

"What? You think a lady can't be strong? I could give you a concussion with a single flick if I wanted to." she continued to laugh as she strolled inside the base, leaving the boys to look at her in confusion, though Tails was more in awe than her brothers.

"Your sister is really cool, Sonic!" this snapped him out of his confusion, guess there was more to his siblings than he thought. 

Tails was right, he had a pretty cool family. He hadn't known them for a while but despite Manic's aloof nature and snarky comments (which made him quite similar to the blue Hedgehog himself) he could tell he was loyal, and Sonia was a little prissy but her heart was always in the right place. 

Looking down at Tails, he met the young fox's youthful gaze full of wonder, he hadn't even known the kid for that long but could tell they were gonna be close. Tails was a good kid, the Freedom Fighters would need someone with his enthusiasm. 

They made their way over to the control panel as Sonia scanned the screen for the previously used co-ordinates, her face suddenly lit up as she saw them. 

"You guys ready?" she checked with them. Tails nodded enthusiastically and Sonic and Manic grinned. Sonia smiled back at them and typed in the coordinates. 

Suddenly they were coated in a pale blue light, Sonic could feel his body becoming lighter, like he was losing all of his mass entirely, as the light grew brighter and the room began to disappear. 

It was time to take the fight to the big guy. The first real strike against Robotnik. 

Bokkun had no idea what his master was up to, though he couldn't really tell what Robotnik was thinking most of the time. Unless he was plotting something that involved destroying and making robots then the man was an enigma, once that man's mind was set on something, he will not give up. 

That seemed to be the state he was in now. Ever since that blue Hedgehog destroyed one of his bases, he'd spent the past day moving his plan forward and working on this weird robot thing. 

It was so much more different from the other models Robotnik made, what was its purpose even for? Every Badnik had a purpose. Motorbugs chased down fugitives, Shell Crackers were strong enough to pierce armour, all Badniks were made to take down those pesky Mobians. 

But this? 

Well, all Bokkun saw now was an exoskeleton. It was nowhere near to being finished. Though he was surprised Robotnik could get it done this quickly. 

Maybe surprised wasn't the right word, his master had an IQ of 300 after all. Moreso shocked that he'd seen Robotnik this driven. 

Maybe it was time to ask him. 

"Ahem" 

Bokkun snapped out of his trance as the sound of his master's rough voice met his receivers. Looks like Robotnik figured out he was being watched. 

"Is there any special reason you're staring at me instead of doing your job, Bokkun?" 

"U-uh well..." the small robot stuttered. Robotnik hated laziness, he'd be punished for sure. He stood up straight and looked up at his creator, Robotnik at least respected assertiveness. "I think you should tell me what you're making!" 

"And why should I do that, Bokkun?" 

"Well... I am your right hand Badnik! You should tell me!" 

"You're my messenger Bokkun, let's not break any boundaries here." 

Okay, maybe Robotnik had a point. In the end, Bokkun was just a simple messenger, though he usually ended up handling most of Robotnik's dirty work anyway. 

He simply turned around and sulked. 

"Fine! I guess I'll go and keep a look out on the shop if you don't need me here!" 

"Do as you wish, Bokkun" Robotnik scoffed, "just try not to agitate the Badniks around the station, I'm starting to regret making your voice sound so grating." 

This made the short Badnik growl in anger, Bokkun was known for his temper tantrums and the scientist was in no mood for dealing with one today, so he was shocked when he saw the imp-like robot sulk out of the room. 

He definitely programmed Bokkun to be too annoying, and it was his own fault really. Bokkun was the only Badnik he programmed to feel emotion simply because he was bored. He was the only human on Mobius and he couldn't exactly interact with other Mobians due to the... Current relations he had with them at the moment. 

So he programmed a Badnik to worship the ground he walked on, so what? Couldn't a mad scientist get a little praise every now and then over the generic "all hail Robotnik" he heard every five minutes? Sometimes you have to indulge a little to keep yourself sane. 

Even if that indulgence led to the literal devil itself in adorable robot form with a voice module so high pitched and had no idea how to change. 

He was a genius scientist but he didn't know absolutely everything. 

Robotnik sighed and turned back to his work, picking up his screwdriver where he left his and screwing in the final panel to the exoskeleton. He had to admit, this could possibly be his best work so far. 

That Blue Hedgehog was going to be a problem and he had to work on getting rid of him quick. 

This was his first prototype, Mecha Sonic. 

The blue light began to phase in, until it became more and more intense, leading to the four Mobians finally materialising. There was only one thing that hit Sonic's mind when the teleport action period was over. 

His head was killing him. Teleportation sickness affected only a few and he was unlucky enough to be part of the few. 

This didn't seem to bother Tails though, his enthusiasm was displayed clear as glass on his wide blue eyes. It's insane how a kid so young could be so happy at a time like this but maybe it was best that there'd be Mobians like him in these times. They needed some hope at least. 

Manic let out a yawn, scratching the back of his ear as his body stretched, Sonia only sighed and looked around at their surroundings. 

"It's pretty cold here" he could hear a shiver in her voice as she spoke, "I suppose robots don't really need the heat." 

Her comment only met silence though. 

Because the next thing that met Sonic's eyes was truly extraordinary, outside the nearest window was what he could only imagine seeing in his dreams.

"Guys..." he paused as he continued to look in awe at the other side of the window, "we're definitely in space, look!" 

The other rushed over, Sonic was right. This was definitely space. 

It was nothing like he thought it would be, he was expecting... Well... Nothing. Black sky and a few rocks. 

But here, the stars shined so brightly, not just a mere twinkle but like fireworks. 

"You know..." Sonic paused as the others looked at him. "I've been spending my whole life training with my uncle that I never had time to admire stuff like this." 

They listened to him intently, though Tails did seem a little distracted by the view. 

"All this time it's just been constant running and running, always thinking ahead like I was taught to... I never had the chance to really think to myself and ask 'what if I just stopped for a second?', I never had those moments." he looked outside the window as he smile dropped slightly, his eyes slowly began to close. 

Tails stopped looking out the window to see Sonic, were those tears? He hadn't known Sonic for long but was he actually crying? 

Not that it was bad per-say, but from what he saw from the blue blur, he seemed like he was fearless, but this moment of vulnerability was something he never saw before. 

So even his heroes could turn out to be afraid of things sometimes. 

He stood up straight and puffed out his chest. Marching over to Sonic, he raised his hand and grabbed hold of Sonic's. 

"I'll be here for you! I promise!" 

Manic and Sonia only stared in shock at this, it was so sudden and Tails was just a kid but there he was, promising to help out their brother. 

Tails gripped on to Sonic's hand harder, his fingers tightening like a vice around his palm as his eye lids narrowed in intensity. 

"We're going to all stick together, okay? We're gonna beat Robotnik so you can be happ-" before Tails could continue, a pair of lanky arms wrapped around his petite figure, the rest of his face obscured by long blue quills, the scratchiness rubbing on his forehead, it was Sonic. 

He didn't say anything,only holding Tails tighter. Tears began to leak from his eyelids and he continued to hold the small fox. 

He had to put on a brace face. He was only twelve, still just a kid but it was his fault his uncle was killed, it was his fault he wasn't responsible enough to use his powers right.   
He had to make things right so kids like Tails could keep smiling. 

Taking in a deep breath, his tears began to dry as he wiped them away with one finger, still displaying a devil may care attitude to ease Tails' thoughts. 

Tails opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when Sonic held onto his hand like the fox did earlier.   
Closing his small hand into a fist, Sonic raised it into the air as Sonic formed a fist of his own and bumped it against Tails'. 

"We're buddies now, alright Tails? You and me are gonna stick together forever!" 

Tails mouth curved into a goofy smile as he enthusiastically gave a fist bump back to Sonic. 

Sonia and Manic stood to the side of them, Manic carelessly leaning against the walls of the ship, he didn't seem all too interested in the conversation, he seemed resentful in fact.   
The two continuing their childish fist bumps didn't seem to notice but it was all too clear to Sonia. 

"Manic, I know there's something up, what's wrong?" she nudged him, as Manic turned his head away. She tried to walk over to him only for him to chuckle at her. 

"You worry too much Princess. C'mon, let's go." 

This only confused her. Was he really okay? Of all the Mobians she's seen so far, Manic was the hardest to figure out, and he was her brother! Obviously he was bothered by this. Maybe it wasn't the right time though. 

"You're not fine, Manic..." she trailed off. 

Now wasn't the right time. 

"You about done?" 

They quickly turned their heads to see a small black figure, the sides of his head curved into devil-like horns and that screeching voice seemed all too familiar. 

"Yeah, yeah. You guys know me! Bokkun! Right hand Badnik to Robotnik!" he let out an ear piercing laugh as he jumped up and down with joy, "and I found Robotnik's most wanted! I win! I win!" 

He was almost childlike, most certainly irritating. Sonic prepared to fight him until Sonia tapped her medallion and released her Keytar. 

Stroking her fingers along the keys, the tip began to glow as if it was charging a laser. 

"I'd strongly advise keeping the noise down, Bokkun. We don't want to bring anymore robots here and make it dirty." her fingers let go of the keys and the laser stopped charging. "why don't you take up to Robotnik so we don't fight? I'm sure you don't want that." 

Bokkun only laughed at her and shook his head. 

"Like I'm gonna fall for that one! You're gonna trap me, well I'm small but I'm definitely not dumb! Badnik, get em!" he short arms pointed to the air as an alarm went off, they were soon met by two Badnik deployed from what seemed like nowhere, it was typical of Robotnik to keep hidden compartments anywhere. 

"These are Asterons!" he pointed at the two Badniks, they seemed to be shaped like starfish as each point was covered in spikes. "I wouldn't advise going near them of course, or else they're gonna blow right up! Though my goal is to have you killed after all... In that case, just try and fight them!" he laughed in his high pitched scratchy voice again as the Badniks floated closer to them, in the centre of them seemed to be a red light, that seemed to glow as it came closer and closer. 

"Stay with me guys, I have an idea." Sonia whispered. She flicked a switch on her Keytar and tapped her fingers to play some chords. 

The sound met their ears, it felt so soothing like a lullaby, but what was coming out of the Keytar wasn't a laser, but a mist instead. 

A Magenta fog began to flood the air as the vision became obscured for everyone. Sonia grabbed her brother's hands as she dragged them out of the mist, with Tails holding onto Sonic.   
They were dragged out of the fog as they heard the shrieking voice of Bokkun. 

"I don't care if you can't see them! Just go and find them!" 

"Little trick I was taught before I met you all," she gestured at her Medallion, tapping it as her Keytar teleported back in. "I'm not sure where these things came from, all I know is that mother gave one to Manic and I, but not Sonic." she nudged her head to Sonic's bare neck. 

Manic shrugged as her fiddled with his Medallion. "I don't really care honestly. All I know is it gets me out of trouble, so I'm grateful for it" he finished with a chuckle. 

Robotnik sighed as he looked through the security cameras. Clearly Bokkun was useless. Well if you wanted something doing, you had to do it yourself. It was only a few hours before he would attack Mobius but he needed to get those infernal hedgehogs out of the way first. 

Sighing, he leaned over to the microphone on his console, tapping it to make sure it was on and let out a small cough to grab their attention. 

The video feed showed them frantically looking around, the fear obvious in their faces. Perfect. 

"Now that I have your attention, I'd advise you come straight to me and stop teasing my robots. It puts Bokkun on edge and then I have to deal with his crying."

Sonic only stared at the camera, looks like he already found it. He was certainly hot headed but definitely sharp. 

"Now my location on the ship is..." he let out a few tuts, just to annoy them a little "around the centre, I can't quite bother to give you the directions so why don't you try and find me yourself? I won't blame you if you get lost, it's practically a maze!" he let out a laugh and shut off the voice feed. 

Call him a sadist, call him whatever you want, but he was a mad scientist after all, always try new things to get results. And in this case the new thing would be toying with his enemies. 

"This is absolute bull!" Manic yellled as he threw a fist at the aluminum wall. The second it connected he was met with a loud clanging noise, though it didn't seem to do much damage, "we're lost! The continents are gonna be destroyed and we're lost in this stupid space ship!" 

"Look, calm down." Sonic places his hand on his brother's shoulder, only to have him respond with a shrug, "we can do this, alright? Let me have a look around." 

Before Manic could answer, his brother sped off, leaving a cloud of dust behind. It wasn't long before Sonic came back, his quill slightly messier than they looked five second ago, and smudges covering his muzzle. 

"Yeah, we are definitely lost." 

"I don't think so." the voice came from Tails, seeming more confident than before. He chuckled and reaches into his satchel, pulling up what looked like a yellow tablet device.   
"I don't just make planes, you know. This is called the Miles Electric!" Manic only rolled his eyes at this. 

"So what, the kid can play video games while the planet blows up?" Sonia responded by slapping the back of his head. 

"Don't listen to him, buddy. It looks pretty cool! What does it do?" Sonic's eyes had that spark of enthusiasm again, which seemed to boost Tails' confidence more. He switched on the device and showed it to the others. 

"Well, it does all sorts! Translating, scanning, hacking... Most importantly in this situation, it can trace where Robotnik's voice came from and help us navigate it!" he swiped a few symbols on the device until a ringing sound was heard, a map then showed up on the screen with an arrow pointing to what seemed to be the centre of the ship. "Told you I was good!" 

Manic only rolled his eyes, carelessly bumping himself off the wall so he could stand up straight.   
Rubbing under his nose, he gestured over to the direction Tails' device was directing them to and let out a mutter that Sonic could only decipher as "whatever let's go" 

They made it to the centre before they knew it, Sonic hadn't known Tails for long but he felt a sense of pride, like an older brother seeing his kid brother ride a bike for the first time. 

The little fox sure was something. 

His thoughts were interrupted however as the light turned on, before only the light of the stars had directed them but now the disorientating bright lives above them gleamed and stung their eyes that had been so used to the dark. 

After rubbing his eyes gently to get himself used to the newfound brightness, Sonic was immediately met by the smug grin of Robotnik in his floating mobile once again, his lanky fingers twirling the end of his unkempt moustache menacingly. 

"I see you've found the centre of the base, you only have a couple hours to spare so I suggest you out all your might into this." he pulled out a remote from his jacket and twisted a dial on it, letting out a high pitched ringing noise. "Time I test out my prototype, Silver Sonic." 

Before Sonic could make a quip about the originality of the name, the back of his head was met by a cold, hard hard and heavy object, quickly turning around, he saw exactly who Silver Sonic was. 

This was what Robotnik had created, and only within a couple of days. The robot seemed to resemble Sonic in all but colour, as it was only a silver exoskeleton at this point, but it still looked powerful enough.   
The pupils glowed a menacing red colour as it simply stared at Sonic, preparing to attack. 

The others prepared to defend the blue Hedgehog but it was clear that Silver Sonic had noticed. The spikes on the back of the exoskeleton to resemble Sonic's quills began to rise and detach. Each of them flew in the air like missiles and headed directly towards Manic, Sonia and Tails, pinning the three to the wall and leaving them unable to move. 

"Looks like you're on your own, Sonic! A perfect test for my new masterpiece!" Robotnik continued to gloat as he deemed himself the victor.   
Sonic only shook his head and sighed. 

"You've just made this too easy, Robotnik." cockily winking at the Doctor, he dashed into Silver Sonic, curling into a ball and pinning the robot to the wall. 

Silver raised its arms to attempt to push back Sonic but the curled up Hedgehog only drilled into the robot more and more, causing more damage to the incomplete armour. 

"You incompetent..." Robotnik continued to rant to himself, then raising his arm to issue further commands to the lookalike robot. "If you don't crush that Hedgehog, I'll crush you in the scrap heap!" 

The robot's eyes flashed red once again, the heels of its artificial shoes opening to reveal two rockets, blasting the two off and pushing Sonic away, making the blue Hedgehog hit the ground.   
Silver Sonic, now floating in the air, focused on the others, still pinned and struggling against the wall.   
Sonic noticed as soon as he raised his head from the ground. 

His friends were in danger. No time for playing games now, it was serious and Robotnik had to pay. 

He sprinted from his spot over to Silver Sonic, detaching its metal quills once again, this time to destroy them, Sonic picked up his speed the second they flew off. 

Reaching his siblings and Tails, he spread his arms wide behind them in a protective stance, he lept from the ground and delivered a powerful kick to the first missile, deflecting it into the second and blowing them up.   
The final missile still headed towards them though, homing down onto the four, faster than the first two. 

Sonic closed his eyes and focused, he couldn't be reckless . 

He couldn't keep acting immature. 

He couldn't always crack a joke in the face of danger. 

He had to be the hero Mobius needs. 

Blue sparks began to run through his quills, all the way down to his legs and he let out a deep breath.   
The sparks ran quicker and quicker as his siblings looked in shock. 

"This must be the source of his power!" Tails exclaimed with glee, "it's like he's a lightning bolt, he's so cool!" 

Sonic opened his eyes with his power suddenly charged, he looked around him, observing the area, everything had frozen. 

Only he could move. 

He chuckled and rested his hands on his hips, Tails still had his look of glee, Sonia seemed to be confused by the situation while Manic... Well Manic was still screaming.   
Robotnik still had a maniacal look on his face, he seemed to be mid laugh as he assumed he'd be victorious. 

Oh how wrong he was. 

"Guess I have work to do" Sonic chuckled. 

He approached the final spike missile slowly approaching, he gently lifted it from its place and twisted it around directly to Silver Sonic. 

His work wasn't done though, obviously that pesky laser needed stopping.   
He strolled over to theain console, the words all seemed a little complicated for him, Sonic wasn't exactly tech savvy, so he'd deactivate his own special way. 

Like giving it a good kick and switching it off. 

Which would probably blow up the station, he wasn't quite sure what he did. 

Finally there was the issue with Robotnik.   
Well that was a tough one. Sonic was just a kid and killing someone wasn't really his first thought.   
He thought maybe if he gave Robotnik enough chances he could redeem himself, and killing the scientist would make him just as bad. 

So he'd let Robotnik go this time, he jumped onto the floating mobile with Robotnik still frozen in his laugh, droplets of saliva suspended in the air from his mouth. Sonic looked at the console and saw the teleporter. Typing in a few random letters, Robotnik was going to be sent to some unknown area, Sonic didn't know where but he hoped perhaps the Mobian ice caps. 

Walking back to Tails and his siblings, he removed the spikes holding them against the wall.   
Now it was time to find a way out, he scouted around the main deck until he found some more teleporters, he held his arms around the three as he typed the coordinates in, his powers began to wear off. 

It all seemed like a blur to the others, one second it seemed like they were doomed, but then Silver Sonic had blown up and Robotnik was teleported away. Bokkun's yelling could be heard as he left the station to evacuate. 

"Uh Sonic?" Sonia nervously asked, "what exactly did you do?" 

Sonic turned to his sister and grinned. 

"I'll tell you when we get back" 

The blue light enveloped them and they disappeared, leaving the station behind, about to self destruct.


	7. Chapter 6 - The Floating Island

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh writer's block am I right?  
> But it's time we meet our favourite Echidna!

A breeze rushed past the red quills of a sleeping echidna, in that very second, his eyes opened and is purple irises, rushed to look behind him.

It was safe, for now.

He stretched and slowly stood up, adjusting his posture to observe the sight in front of him.  
A lush jungle as far as the eye could see, it seemed ordinary but the Echidna knew something was wrong. He could sense it.

There was something wrong with that breeze. The tranquil island never felt such a thing before. This gust of wind was fast, something that would instill panic in any creature.

Something was wrong.

The Echidna swerved his body around, jogging to what he was guarding. In front of him was a gem of tremendous size, its green hue shone brightly in the sunlight, each edge cut perfectly to form a flawless shape.

He had to protect it at all costs.

The echidna crouched in front of the gem, placing his palm on the ground as he closed his eyes. His quills began to float slightly as the green colour of the gem began to shine brighter until a forcefield began to form over it.

Something was coming to this island.

His quills locked together, forming a tight bond as he jumped in the air and began to glide towards the jungle.

The blue light began to fade away as Sonic regained consciousness. He certainly wasn't going to get used to teleportation any time soon but it seemed to be a recurring theme on this adventure.

He re-adjusted his shoulder until he heard the satisfying crack to signal it was back in place, then turned around to see the other waking up; it obvious from Manic's facial expression that teleportation wasn't his cup of tea either.

"Come on, let's get you up." Sonic lifted his hand to help up his brother as the other two began to stand up themselves.  
Manic let out a sigh and reluctantly took Sonic's hand to get up, though he soon smoothed out his quills in an attempt to look cool and brush it off.

Sonia was the next to get up, as she gently lifted Tails from underneath his arms to prop him up, Tails' small form definitely would have handled the sickness worse though his enthusiasm seemed to mask this, made evident by the constant bright shine his eyes seemed to give as he looked up at Sonic. 

As the others worked out the kinks in their muscles, Sonic found himself speeding to the top of the nearest palm tree to get an idea of his surroundings. 

The forest they had woken up in seemed to be vast, as the lush greenery seemed to carry on and on as Sonic narrowed his eyes in concentration, until they winded once he reached the end of the trees. 

The air seemed a lot thinner in this place. 

He slid down the tree to see the three ready to take off, Sonia turned to Sonic with a smile as she approached him

"So, do you know where we are?" 

He hesitated. 

"No..." Sonia sighed at this response. He seemed to notice this as he continued, his voice growing shakier. "Thing is, I can't see the ocean or anything, just a lot of green until it reaches the end." 

His siblings narrowed their eyes at this as Tails only looked up at them in confusion. Manic took a step forward to face Sonic, placing an arm on his shoulder and maintaining a level gaze. 

"Sonic. Where. Are. We." 

Sonic let out a nervous chuckle. 

"Well, we're a lot closer to the sky than the ground, I can tell you that!" 

Sonia only rolled her eyes at this response. 

"Can you please take this seriously? We need to know where we are." 

Sonic gave up on the act and sighed, holding his siblings hands tightly. 

"You're gonna think I'm crazy, but I think we're in the sky. There's no sea, the clouds are much closer and the air only gets thinner the higher you get." Sonic nervously rubbed the back of his head. "I think this island we're on floats." 

Manic rolled his eyes in annoyance, shaking his hand out of his brother's.   
Maybe Sonic could have phrased the sentence a little better so it didn't seem like he was joking to his brother, obviously he didn't have the most serious demeanour. 

Still, he had to be confident to the others, he was a symbol of hope for the Mobians after all, which is why he had to make a start in his family. 

As Manic began to flop down to the ground, his hand met his forehead in frustration. Sonic soon took a seat next to him, only to offer a reassuring smile, one that said "It's alright, I've got this!". 

Manic only rolled his eyes at this. 

Maybe confidence wasn't the best attitude to have. His confidence in himself seemed to be getting the group into trouble most of the time, maybe it was time someone more level headed took the lead. 

His eyes instantly met Sonia, and the second they glanced at each other, it was obvious they were both thinking of the same thing. 

Sonia grinned and knealt down to her brothers level, taking his hand and giving it a gentle tug.

"Complaining isn't gonna get us off the island, Manic. Come on." 

Manic only let out a grunt in response. Sonia sighed and tugged his hand harder, pulling him up as her body began to rise from her previous position.   
She turned to Tails and gave him an encouraging smile. 

"Any idea where we could be?" she inquired. 

She's right to ask. Sonic thought to himself. Sure I know we're on some floating island but it's a pretty far fetched idea itself. 

Tails picked up the Miles Electric, it seemed to be covered in dirt after it fell to the ground when they teleported to the island, though the fox managed to rub away some of it from the screen using one of his tails.  
His finger swiped through a few screens until he found the app he was looking for.

"Alright! Found the GPS!" Sonic could feel his smiler growing a little wider at the kid's enthusiasm. "I can get a good look at the island, alright let's see..." he paused as his eyes squinted at the screen, then his head slowly raised to meet Sonic's concerned look.

"Sonic's right, we are floating."

They must be playing dumb. Any Thief who comes to Angel Island knows exactly what they're looking for! Why else would they be here?

Though when he thought about it more, he wasn't too sure why they were here either.  
Still, he his behind the tree as he continued to listen to their conversation, though the instinct to fight them was beginning to feel overbearing, the spikes on his fists began to quiver at the thought of battling an opponent.

His mother said it was the natural echidna instinct.

To fight.

To protect.

The only thing he had to protect was this island and the Emerald ever since he lost his parents.  
So his instincts only grew stronger as these intruders invades his island.

But he needed to be patient. Wait for the right time.

When they think they're safe... He wouldn't t let them take the Emerald.

"We've been walking for hours, sis! I feel like I've picked up twenty pebbles in my shoes!" Manic seemed to have been at this for the whole hour they were walking. The forest never seemed to end and it only soured the mood between the group.

Usually in this case Sonic would have three options:

1: Run.  
2: Taunt Manic (his uncle had endured Sonic's smartassery many a training session)  
3: Taunt Manic, then run.

A good brother would never do any of these things, obviously; at this point he was very much considering running though.

The jungle was lush, the trees were huge and had trunks wide enough to support a party. It was like it was tailored for Sonic in mind.

But he would still stick with his family.

Unless he quickly left for five seconds just for a small release of the trapped energy inside him. 

Though he wasn't really sure if he was prepared for a nagging session from his sister, maybe it would be best to stick with the group. 

The forest seemed to go on forever but it was definitely a sight to behold.  
The lush greenery and calm rivers running past them gave him the same feeling Emerald Hill did, it only made him wish that he could've seen his kingdom in its original state, maybe it would've looked like this.

The group carried on, though while he kept looking ahead, he failed to notice the rope on the ground...

After opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was the ground, he didn't fall over though, he seemed to figure it out the second he felt the rope tied around his leg.

The fastest thing alive... Caught in a trap.

"Sonic!" he attempted to swivel his body to detect the noise, only to see the other free caught in a net hanging from the tree next to his, whoever trapped them seemed to know they were here, the rope was new and the bristles felt sharp against his leg.

Sonic wasn't going without a fight though, with his other leg free, he began to rapidly kick the rope tied around the one suspended in the air, his kicks grew faster and faster until his head began to feel dizzy.

Maybe the kicking wasn't helping him, he had been upside down for at least a minute now.

Before he could think of another plan or at least expect a remark from his siblings, a deep chuckle met his ears as he swiveled his body once again to try and find the source.

From the trunks of a much larger tree, lept down another Mobian. His fur was bright red and his quills were even longer than Sonic's, his eyes were a deep purple and he seemed to have a scowl growing on his rough, battle worn face.

Tails shifted his way between Manic and Sonia to get a better look, and his eyes widened at the sight.

"He's an echidna!" he quickly turned to Sonic as the other two only tilted their heads in confusion. "I thought they didn't exist anymore, but he's a real echidna!"

The echidna only rolled his eyes and walked towards the trapped group.

"The last of my kind, fox-boy." he spat at them, "now tell me why you're on my island, that I'm supposed to be guarding" his stance seemed to shift midway through the sentence, Sonic only now noticed the hard spikes that seemed to be growing on his fists that his white gloves covered, the echidna's arms seemed to be quite big compared to his own and he saw some muscle tone as he paced closer to the others.

At least he'd make a good fight.

"Well Mr Echidna-" an immediate glare appeared on the echidna's face, "looks, sorry to make you but you haven't been polite enough to introduce yourself!" Sonic chuckled to himself, only for the others to roll their eyes.  
"My point is, I appreciate the effort you made to try and free me, but I'm afraid I'm not gonna be here for long."

The echidna only laughed at Sonic's cockiness.

"You think you can escape me, Hedgehog? I'll use your body as a punching bag if you don't quit talking, now tell me why you're here!"

Well, he gave him a chance.

"Thing is, you only tied my legs. I may be the fastest thing in the world and that doesn't just count for my legs alone."

In a flash, his hands quickly loosened the rope as jumped down to the ground, landing gracefully.

"It counts for the hands too." 

The echidna only rolled his eyes at this, before quickly raising his fists into a fighting stance as he prepared to fight Sonic, luckily he was quick to notice this as his legs were ready to take off any second. 

This was noticed by the echidna though, lunging himself towards Sonic's legs and gripping his ankles hard, throwing the Hedgehog into the air.   
Sonic wouldn't be caught off guard though, curling into a ball he charged towards the echidna on the ground. Instinctively his hands caught Sonic's spinning body, pushing him further and further back until he finally stopped.   
The spinning definitely made Sonic sick, and before he could react, he was met by a swift uppercut by the echidna, followed by a punch in the stomach, knocking the air out of him. 

He wasn't running anywhere. 

"Are you done yet, Hedgehog?" he cautiously walked up to Sonic and he crouched to the ground trying to catch his breath, struggling to get his words out. 

"You can't..." he let out a few coughs, making the echidna smirk. "You can't keep me here forever. Whatever you're protecting, we're not here for it!" his wheezing would've made it harder for others to understand but the Echidna heard him perfectly. 

Manic sighed as he laid back in the net, Tails could only watch on in gear of what would happen to Sonic. 

Sonia however had different ideas. 

She was raised of course to like kind, dignified men of a high status. Anyone less wouldn't be a good suitor.  
The echidna had such a rugged look to him though... And such strength, it made her feel so excited.   
She maybe had a thing for bad boys. 

Her blushing was quickly noticed by Sonic, the perfect time to take advantage. 

He locked eyes with his sister as he managed to stand himself up. 

"You know, Sonia. You're not exactly making your crush on red here any less obvious" he turned to the Echidna to wait for a reaction. 

"She... She what?" amazingly the echidna turned around to look at Sonia, gone was the tough guardian and was replaced by a flustered child.   
Though being alone on an island would mean not speaking to any girls. 

He ran behind the Echidna and dashed into him, knocking him on the ground and pinning him behind his back before he could move. 

"Let go of me you thieves!" he continued to struggle but Sonic had no plans of letting him go, "you can't take the Master Emerald! I won't let you! The Island will fall if you do!" 

"We aren't going to take it! Let us go!" they both looked over to see Tails forcing his head through the holes of the net, a look of desperation clear on his face, "if you don't let us go, a bigger threat will find us and take the Emerald!" 

He paused, no longer struggling from Sonic's grip. The Hedgehog definitely did go easy on him... Anyone else would have tried to kill him if they were after the Emerald.   
If there was one thing he hated, it was admitting he was wrong, but in this case he had no choice. 

"Alright, Hedgehog. Let me go and ill set your friends free." upon hearing this, Sonic instantly loosened his grip. 

"Huh..." the Echidna murmured to himself, though Sonic could clearly hear this as he turned around to listen, he may as well speak up, "You were so quick to trust me, to let me go when I asked. Why?" 

Sonic chuckled and patted the Echidna on the back. He only flinched in response. 

"Easy, red. We're all Mobian and we're all sticking together. We only came here because we're trying to find the Freedom Fighters." 

"You're idealists then. I pity you" he chuckled as he untied the rope to let the others down gently, "don't get me wrong, I appreciate what you're doing but the Mobians aren't exactly fighting a winning battle." 

Sonia stood up from the ground and brushed the dirt off her dress. 

"Well, I think you'd be a great addition to join us! You're so strong!" she exclaimed. 

"Easy, Sonia. You don't wanna scare him off" Manic chuckled. 

The echidna turned to face the mountain in the distance. 

"I can take you all to Sky Sanctuary, I know a way to get off this island but you'll have to do what I say." 

"Well, I'm not the best at following orders," Sonic paused to think for a second. "we probably don't have any other choice, alright we'll join you." 

The Echidna beckoned the group over to follow him, not turning to look back at them. He wanted them off the island as soon as possible. 

"By the way..." Manic trailed off for a second, maybe it would be best not to anger him after seeing what he did to Sonic, but he still had an important question. "What's your name". 

"I don't have one". 

"Well we gotta call you something". 

"No, you really don't". 

"I might have an idea". Sonic ran up to the Echidna and scanned his body.

Not Red, he has red fur but that was too basic.

His quills were certainly long but quilly sounded childish.

Then he took a glance at his fists, two spikes emerged from the knuckles, it would've definitely explained the horrific beat down he got earlier.

"How about Knuckles?"

The echidna paused.

"It'll do", he continued to walk on as Sonic pumped his fist in triumph.

"Knuckles?" Manic asked, "Sounds kina basic, huh?"

Sonic chuckled.

"It was either that or Mr Misery."


End file.
